Support for vehicle-bodies.



A. P. ROCKWELL.

- SUPPORT FOR VEHICLE BODIES. 7

APPLICATION FILED PEB.23, 1906. RENEWED FEB. 8, 1909,

Patented June 21, 1910.

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WITNESSES.-

\ INVENTORL fi/EerfFRocifa/e.

A TTORNEI.

A. F. ROCKWELL,

SUPPORT FOR VEHICLE BODIES. :APPLIUATION FILED 311.23, 1906. RENEWED FEB. a, 1909.

Patented June 21, 1910.

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WITNESSES:

ATTORNEI.

' Bristol, county .of Hartford, State of of anequalizing-device forming a art of .ioning means between the more to provide a cus ioninfi I vide means-whereb cod 7 UNITED" STATES PATENT onrica.

ALBERT F. ROCKwELIi, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW DEPARTURE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT. A CORPORATION OF CON- Specification oflettersl'atent.

SUPPORT FOR VEHICLE-BODIES.

Patented June 21, 1910.-

Applicationflled February as, 1906, Serial No. 362,526. Renewed February a, 1909. Serial No. 476.820.

' To all it maycomermh Be it known that 'LALnmz'r F. ROCKWELL,

a citizen offthe United States,*residin at nec'tieut, have. invented a certain new and useful Support for Vehicle-Bodies, of which the follow1ng is a 'full, clear, and exact" de-. soription, such as will enable others skilled in the'art to which it lap ertains to make and use the same,-reference' eing had to the ac-' companying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in vehicles, and"moreparticularl'yto means for supporting thevehicle' body.

One of. the objects of the invention is to provide means for permitting vertical play of the-vehicle body, and to rovide a cushing-gear of the" vehiclej rovide means provide against uneven movement between said body and-Tits support. In other words it is con- J templatedto provide a structure which will maintain parallelism between the bodyframe and its support. i I

It is also the purposeofm invention to provide a cushioning means or cushioning the body-frame on its su port,=and-furthercushioning the bod on the y frame.

Another object o theinvention is to provide means-to relieve the torsional strain my invention and to'reliev e the y vfrom twistin strains v Anotier objecto'f the inventionjs to provide meansior preventing twist strains of the running-gearframe' from being com municatedto'the body. w v I Alnotherobject of the-invention is to prothQ-bOdy-fra'me may have a certain fr pendent of the runnmg-gear frame.

Other objects and advantages-as well as the novel details'of construction -'of this in .vention be set forth herein after, thatchan .in

p op o and mind-amen; mar

y and the run-' means for (mr movement inde the hanger arms 13 at one or both ends there ing the preferred arrangement of springs;

Fig 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of a body-frame and its support including the equalizing device and the cushioning means therefor; Fig. 3 is an end'elevational view of the invention;'and Fig. 4 is a fragmen-.

tary detail perspective VleW. of the bodyframe support.

Referrm now to the drawings illustrating one em diment of my invention, 2 indicates the journals of any convenient form of running-gear for a vehicle. These journals are adapted to receive the shafts or axles of the wheels. Suitably supported upon the running-gear, as by means of theupwardly extending journal posts?) (which are shown as rising from the journals 2), are longitudinall extending rock-shafts 5-, said shafts being ere shown as located upon the opposite sides of the longitudinal center. of the vehicle and within,-=but near the vertical planes of the sides of the-hereinafter mentioned body-frame. Transverse rock-shafts ii are also provided, said latter mentioned shafts being here shown as journaled in the boxes- 7 which boxes are provided with sleeves 8 through which the longitudinal rock-shafts 5 pass. Suitably secured to the rock-shafts 5, so as to rock therewith, are

arms 9, whilecorresponding arms 10 are secured to the rock-shafts 6, said arms .10 extending at ri ht'angles to the arms 9. The vehicle body'-- me 11 is supported by these arms 9'and- 10, in such a manner that rocktigg of said arms :and' their shafts is permit this-construction being here shown asefthrough the hanger arms 12- and 13,

the links 14 and 15. The hanger arms 12 are at the sides of the body-frame, and.

of. The links are, pivoted to the hanger arms and rock-arms, so that proper connec:

the rock-shafts 5, are arms 16 and17. These 1 -tions will be made between the hanger. arms 1;,100

and the rock-shaft arms; Dependmg from" arms'are connected to a spring device here illustrated as comprising a cylinder 18, havtrated in detail in an app lcation filed by Charles F. Schmelz and myself, October 30, 1905, in which when airis admitted into the cylinder 18 through an inlet port in communication with the tube 20 from the tank 21,

the tendency will be to force the piston and cylinder apart, unless sufficient weight is aptheabove entitled a plied to move them toward each other. In lication, given Serial N o. 285220,we have 1 ustrated means where: by thepressure ma' be regulated to compensate for the ap li ,load on the body-frame, and it isthoug t to be unnecessary to give a detail description in this particular application.

It will be ap arent that the vehicle bodyframe ofiers p ay with respect to the running-gear or supporting means of the vehicle body-frame, and that a cushion is provided for relieving the shock or jar due to movementbetween the body frame and its sup:

porting base. However, uneven movement etween the vehicle body-frame and its supporting base is prevented. For example,

should .the lower right hand corner of the vehicle body-frame, as shown in Fig. 2, be depressed, the rock-arms 9 and 10 adjacent said corner will be rocked downwardl thus rocking the right hand shaft 5, and t e forward'transverse shaft 6 and the arm 10 at the left of the vehicle upon the said forward transverse shaft 6, whereby the upper right hand corner and the lower left hand corner of the vehicle body-frame must also move downwardly; such movement necessarily, through the rock-arms 9 and 10 respectively adjacent said lower left hand corner and said upper right hand corner, rocks the left hand rock-shaft 5- and the rear transverse rock-shaft 6 (if two transverse rock-shafts are used) and the rocking ofthese two shafts results in the depression of the upper left hand corner of the vehicle bod -frame, all as will be readily understood. herefore, any vertical movement given to one portion of the vehicle body-frame is transmitted to every othercxportion of said body-frame, so

that said b the tendency of any particular portion there of to sag will be reduced if not wholly eliminated. The rockshafts 5 and 6 are preferably still enough to assist in causmg all parts of the-vehicle body frame to move in unison. However, under certain conditions if suficient weight isiapplied to the bodyframe at or ad acentito a corner, the torsi'onal strain on the shift may be suflicient to I 1 l J that by providin the y-frame moves as a whole, and

.body, anda convenient way of providing this means is shown in Fig.1, in which the permit a slight spring of the arm 9. The Y means for the vehicle body-' hanger arms 12 are provided with inwardly each side bar of said body-frame, while the transverse spring. 24 extends across the frame near its other end.

In the form shown in Fig, 1, which is preferably employed with the equalizing mechanism for maintaining parallelism beone end of the frame cooperating with the transverse single spring at the opposite end of the frame. In view of the fact that the body is mounted for a certain freedom of movement independent of the running-gear,

the springs will tend to relieve the torslonal 1 strain of the rock-arms, and to-relieve the body from twisting strains to which the running-gear ma be subjected. The arrangement abovee'scribed is such that the independently arrangedcushions or springs tend to resist, in a measure, the-free movementof each other, owing to the fact that they will not act in unison. Therefore it is obvious that one s rin will in effect become a shock'absorber or t e other.=

It will be apparent from the foregoing egualizing mechanism for supporting t e be y-frame, and then providmg an auxiliary cushioning means between the body-frame and the body, the or-' .dinar strains'of the runningear, which may communicated therefo t rough the inequalities in the 'road, will not be municated to the body. 'WhatIclaimis: I o

-1. In'a vehicle, thecombination with a running fgear, a bod frame, and a body, of rock'sha ts upon sai run'nin gear and provided with rocklarms, brac ets upon saidbody frame and connected to said rock arms, and springss'upported upon saidbrackets and siklipporting said body; substantiallyas oom- running er, a body frame, and a body, of

Corrections in Letters v P atent No. 962,259.

2. In a vehicle,the combination with a supporting said body; substantiallyas described. a i

In testimony whereof, I hereunto ailix my signature, in the resence of two witnesses. ALB RT F. ROCKWELL.

10 rock sha s upon said running gear and provlded with rock arms, brackets upon said bod frame and connected'to said rock arms,

sai brackets having rojecting portions at Witnesses: the edges of s'aldb y frame, and springs CHAS. F. SCHMELZ, supported upon sald projecting-portions and B. F. FUNK.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 962,259, granted June 21, 1910,- upon the application of Albert F. Rockwell, of Bristol, Connecticut, for an iluproyement in Supports for Vehicle-Bodies, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 88, after the compound v vord running-gear, the wordfmme should be inserted, and same page, line 89 the hyphen and the word frame should'be stricken out; and that the said Letters Patentshould be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice. I v

Signed and sealed this 26th day of July, A. D., 1910.

[SEAL-1 FQA. TENNANT,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

running er, a body frame, and a body, of

Corrections in Letters v P atent No. 962,259.

2. In a vehicle,the combination with a supporting said body; substantiallyas described. a i

In testimony whereof, I hereunto ailix my signature, in the resence of two witnesses. ALB RT F. ROCKWELL.

10 rock sha s upon said running gear and provlded with rock arms, brackets upon said bod frame and connected'to said rock arms,

sai brackets having rojecting portions at Witnesses: the edges of s'aldb y frame, and springs CHAS. F. SCHMELZ, supported upon sald projecting-portions and B. F. FUNK.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 962,259, granted June 21, 1910,- upon the application of Albert F. Rockwell, of Bristol, Connecticut, for an iluproyement in Supports for Vehicle-Bodies, errors appear in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 88, after the compound v vord running-gear, the wordfmme should be inserted, and same page, line 89 the hyphen and the word frame should'be stricken out; and that the said Letters Patentshould be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice. I v

Signed and sealed this 26th day of July, A. D., 1910.

[SEAL-1 FQA. TENNANT,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

Corrections in Letters Patent N0..962,259.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 962,259, granted J nne 21, 1910, upon the application of Albert F. Rockwell, of Bristol, Connecticut, for an improvement in Supports for Vehicle-Bodies, errors appear In the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 88, after the compound word running-gear, the wordfmme should be inserted, and same page, line 89, the hyphen and the word frame should be stricken out; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these corrections therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 26th day of July, A. D., 1910.

[SEAL] F. A. TENNANT,

Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

